LTCCC Supports Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act

LTCCC congratulates the Senate and House of Representatives for their votes to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and to expand coverage to millions of low-income children who are not currently covered by private or public health insurance. We are especially pleased that the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP), passed in the House, also includes needed protections for seniors and disabled long term care consumers.

Many nursing home provider lobbyists have been characterizing this bill as helping children at the expense of the elderly and nursing home workers, due to the fact that the bill puts a one year moratorium on nursing homes' annual raise.  Unfortunately, this argument is fundamentally flawed: study after study has shown that these yearly increases have not led to an improvement in nursing home care. Meanwhile, we continue to hear of nursing homes making big profits and providing their executives with lavish packages.

Fundamentally, we believe that nursing homes should not receive additional payments until there is greater accountability for how our loved ones are being cared for and how our tax dollars are being spent!

The CHAMP Act reauthorizes and improves the existing Children’s Health Insurance Program by expanding coverage to millions of children who are not covered by either private or public health insurance. It expands and improves the Low Income Subsidy (LIS) program for drugs and the Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), which help ensure affordable health care for seniors and people with disabilities with lower incomes. CHAMP also reduces Medicare’s discriminatory 50% co-payment on mental health outpatient services to the standard 20% co-payment over a period of 6 years and adds additional mental health providers to Medicare so that services are more widely available.

To speak out now on the CHAMP Act: go to our Citizen Action Center (click on button on right side of this page).

For more information and updates on the CHAMP Act: visit the House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee's website page at http://energycommerce.house.gov/CHAMP/CHAMP_index.shtml.